Broker Agreement

Part 1: Insurance Brokerage Agreement

Subject of Contract

Arrangement of Agreements

The insurance broker is instructed to arrange only such insurance cover as is requested by the client and is suitable for the client's purposes in accordance with statutory requirements, as resulting from separate documentation or written exchanges.

If the broker considers a minimum of 2 suitable quotes in his recommendation, then this is sufficient.

Maintenance of Agreements

The insurance broker is instructed to maintain the contracts which he arranges to the extent defined below. Other agreements are then only subject to maintenance if this is separately agreed.

Within the scope of maintenance, the broker will provide the following services at the request of the client:

• Adjustment of insurance cover to changed risk, market and legal conditions
• Support in the processing of claims for benefits and damages
• Checking of settlements and documents produced by the insurer

Maintenance services beyond this are not agreed. Advice or guidance on statutory social insurance is not included in a broker's activities.

Client's Duties of Cooperation

The customer has a duty to cooperate, in particular in the timely and full provision of truthful information. During the term of the agreement, he is also obliged to inform the Broker without delay of all changes in risk.

Selection of Insurer

In his selection, the insurance broker takes into account which insurers have their head office, or a branch, in Germany, have an agreed organisational structure regarding the conduct of business with insurance brokers and pay the normal broker's commission.

General Business Conditions

The general business conditions of insurance brokerage agreements apply. The client must confirm receipt of the basic information.

Part 2: General Business Conditions of Insurance Brokerage Agreements

Term of the Brokerage Agreement

The brokerage agreement is concluded for an undetermined period of time and can be terminated by either party for important reasons without a period of notice; otherwise, there is a notice period of one month. The client undertakes to report termination of the brokerage agreement to the respective insurance companies, so that a new broker can be selected to whom future commission will be paid, and correspondence with the previous broker discontinued.

Liability / Limitation

In the event of a minor negligent breach of contractual obligations, the insurance broker's liability for financial damages is limited to the compulsory insurance sum. Insofar as there is a risk of higher damages in individual cases, the client will have the opportunity at his own cost to increase the broker's liability insurance to a sum assured which covers the risk taken on. The insurance broker will make a recommendation for this purpose.

The insurance broker has no liability for financial damages accruing to the client as a consequence of a minor negligent breach of secondary obligations.

The statutory limitation rules apply provided that any claims become time-barred after 5 years at the latest, starting at the end of the year in which the brokerage agreement was terminated.

The liability restrictions do not apply to a breach of obligations under §§ 60 or 61 VVG (Insurance Contracts Act).

Binding Instruction

The insurance broker undertakes only to pass information to the insurers in accordance with the client's instructions. Additional information will not be passed to insurers or other third parties, insofar as this is legally permissible.

Prohibition of Assignment

All rights or claims of the client against the insurance broker arising from this contractual relationship are non-transferable, assignable or chargeable.

Fictitious Declaration

Through his silence, the client implicitly accepts changes in these business conditions if the changes have been indicated to him in typographically highlighted text form by the insurance broker, and he does not file an objection to those changes within a period of one month following their receipt; he must also have been explicitly informed from the broker in the letter announcing the changes that his silence will count as an acceptance of those changes.

Legal Consequences

The customer gives prior consent to any transfer of the agreement through one or another insurance broker, for example through the sale or expansion of the brokerage house. He thereby declares his consent that, in such cases, the information and documents necessary for the arrangement and maintenance of future or existing business may be passed on.

Final Provisions

Should a regulation under this agreement be or become invalid, or a regulatory loophole transpires, this does not affect the validity of the agreement as a whole. The invalid provision, or closure of the loophole, is rather to be effected through a supplementary regulation which comes as close as possible to the intention of the original provision.

The place of performance and legal jurisdiction for all rights and obligations arising from this agreement is the head office of the insurance broker, insofar as both parties to the agreement are business persons or legal entities in public law. German law applies.

Part 3: Broker's Power of Attorney

The client authorises the insurance broker, and any possible successor, to represent him in the assigned insurance matters.

This authority in particular includes

• the unrestricted active and passive representation of the client with respect to the respective insurers, including the submission of all declarations of intent relating to the insurance agreements
• the termination of existing insurance agreements and the conclusion of new ones
• enforcement of insurance benefits from conditions of insurance as arranged by the insurance broker, or adopted during maintenance activities, as well as other involvement in the adjustment of claims
• the issue and revocation of sub-authorisation to another insurance broker or persons who are obliged to confidentiality because of their profession
• the initiation and support of complaints to BaFin (Federal Financial Supervisory Authority) or an ombudsman service
• the issue and revocation of declarations of consent for the obtaining of credit reports, as well as the requesting of self-disclosures
• the issue and revocation of SEPA direct debit instructions
• the issue and revocation of consent to the collection and use of health data, and release from the obligation of confidentiality, as well as requests for information about stored and used data
• acceptance or waiver of the documents to be provided by the insurer prior to conclusion of an agreement (especially information about the agreement, conditions)